It is so heartening to hear that S Samy Vellu has come to his senses that his bunch of buffoons has failed him. However, Samy, you have missed the point. As MIC captain for 28 years, you were so pre-occupied with battling for your own survival and enhancing your personal wealth that you have totally lost touch with what is going on around you, including what your buffoons are doing.

You admit that "Since I work long hours, I can't be monitoring them all the time. That will affect my job," and add that "Few are clear about their duties and carry out their responsibilities accordingly (but) some have reached the fatigue stage".

You cannot become a leader just by saying that you are still in control but blame others for your failure. As a leader, you should take the blame for your team’s failure even if they are buffoons. A leader should be proactive rather than reactive. Leadership also involves identifying potential problems and solving them before they reach crisis point.

At this stage, the paramount thing for you to do is to plan your strategy and take the appropriate damage control steps. You can’t just talk. You need to walk the talk. You need to act and be seen as taking effective action for the future of MIC and the Indian community. Kudos to you for taking the first step in evaluating the buffoons around you.

A word of caution in your new selection, please base it on merits, not on personal reasons or recommendations. I was told that past decision on candidates were not purely based on merits but other factors which is best known to you and those close to you.

Don’t repeat the same mistake again. Please drop the apple polishers and those who are simply unfit for the job. We need good leaders to stir the community and the right man to lead without buffoons and apple polishers. It is timely to inject fresh blood into the party to revive its image and shed its “thug clan” image.